England openers Rory Burns and Dominic Sibley staged a fightback against West Indies in the first session on the penultimate day of the first Test of #raisethebat series at Ageas Bowl in Southampton on Saturday.
The opening pair put on a 72-run partnership in their second innings as England reduced the first innings deficit to just 35 runs till lunch on Day 4.
Resuming from their overnight total of 15/0, the openers were calm and determined and looked in control for the most part of the morning.
However, credit should also be given to the West Indies cricket team as they did not give away easy runs and kept the opposition run-rate under two throughout the course of the session.
Although Burns was dismissed a few overs before lunch by Roston Chase, England would be quite happy with the session they had.
Sibley then joined forces with Joe Denly and the duo ensured that the team went to lunch with nine wickets in hand. The match remains in fine balance at the moment and the second session on Day four could be the match-defining one.
Brief Scores: England 204 all-out and 79/1 (Burns 42, Sibley 31*; Chase 1/17) ; West Indies 318 all-out (Brathwaite 65, Dowrich 61, Stokes 4/49)